This is Zuzana Mukumayi and you’re listening to the Screw Being Unhappy Podcast. In this segment, Coaching Insights, I share the coaching goodness from real coaching conversations, so that you too can get INSPIRED AND TAKE ACTION TO MAKE YOUR DREAMS HAPPEN.
Do you have lots of projects you want to focus on?
Do you have a hard time to organize all of them and make consistent progress?
Do you feel overwhelmed and not sure where to start?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, this episode is for you!
Recently, a client told me: “I know how to manage my work. Planning, prioritizing and accomplishing the goals is not a problem. But I can’t do that for myself.”
Raise your hand if that resonates!
And you know what, it is not your fault. We get all the pressure to perform well at work, but nobody teaches us how to work on our own goals.
I don’t remember this being taught to me at school, by my parents or university courses.
Instead of judging ourselves for the lack of ability to plan, prioritize and get stuff done for our own projects, let’s do something about it!
Here are the first two tips I share with my clients who are on the journey of making their dreams happen:
- Focus on how important this project is for you in LONG TERM.
And a small heads up before we dive into this: If you can do it for work (or any other area of your life), you can do it for your project too 😊 So let’s dive in!
Do you want to create a side business that will eventually become your full-time business allowing you the freedom a formal job would never give you?
Do you want to spend more time playing basketball or pickleball, and be consistent with it,l because you know it totally changes your energy and excitement levels and makes you love your life?
Do you want to have more time to meditate and focus on your goals every day, but it feels so hard to do because you’re so busy?
Naturally, we tend to give in to short-term pleasure (or avoid short-term pain!) over long-term pleasure.
It’s easier to stay in our job instead of battling our fear of judgment if we were to go public selling our new service or product. SHORT TERM.
It’s easier to give up our basketball practice because of “life maintenance activities” such as grocery shopping or cleaning our apartment. SHORT TERM.
It’s easier to sleep in, instead of being willing to experiment and find ways, how to create space to think and meditate in our overloaded daily schedule. SHORT TERM.
Take a journal, find a comfy spot and think about this:
What do I really want in the long term?
Am I willing to get uncomfortable to achieve this?
Am I willing to say yes to things that are hard right now?
If you have said yes – good, let’s get to the second tip. If you said no, you have your answer too – and it’s okay.
- Start with a plan.
The plan you’ll make is not what will take you to the final goal.
I wonder if you’re thinking I’m joking right now! Aren’t plans supposed to ensure we hit the goals?
Yes and no.
Yes in the sense that they prompt us to start doing stuff.
No in the sense that no plan ever stays the same as it was on the day you created it. You have to adjust as you go and clarity comes with the action you are taking.
The learning here is this: don’t get hung up on the perfect plan. What you need right now is to have a rough idea of where you want to go and start GOING.
What works really well for me are these 5 stages of visioning and planning:
- Long-term vision (5 to 10 years from now). I call this the “What would I really love to have in my life” vision.
- Yearly vision. Again, this is not too detailed, it is rather a description of what one step to your dream future would look like.
- Quarterly plan. My favourite!!! 3-5 key projects with details of what you want to accomplish. This is where the magic happens as you get concrete and actionable.
- Weekly plan. 3 top priorities focusing on the quarterly priority projects. This is what moves the needle towards your quarterly, yearly and long-term goals.
- Daily plan. Yes, this is when you get the stuff done.
Did you notice the distinction between using vision and plans? Visions are wonderful for us to be motivated by knowing our big WHY, but they are not concrete enough for us to know what we should do each day so that we are getting one step closer to it.
That’s why we have a plan. Create your plan which will inform you what you work on every week and day.
Does it sound weird to create a plan for your hobby? Meditating every morning? Starting a business when you have a 9-5 job?
If yes, who cares? What you want is to start planning, prioritizing and getting stuff done. So be it.
Focusing on your long-term goal and why is it important, alongside with having a plan will give you the needed fuel to start getting the stuff done, consistently and with focus.
As you start moving, there will be other puzzle pieces to address. You’ll need to have a look at your habits (I address this in episode 32 and I’ll put the link for you in the shownotes!) and your strategies that will create more time and energy.
And of course, there is the accountability bit too! But for now, this is a perfect start to get yourself unstuck and start taking action towards what you really want.
I hope this was helpful and I’d love to hear about your goals and the action this podcast episode motivated you to take. Message me on LinkedIn or email me – I always love hearing from you!
And because I love planning (a bit of professional deformation I guess?), I created the Get Stuff Done planner for you so you nail this last quarter of 2024! OMG you’re going to love it, because it’s so concise and clear so you just have to take action towards your dream in such a simple way. Grab it now for free, I’ll put the link for you in the shownotes and let’s get to it!
Until next time, Zuzana
